I learned something this holiday season: a songwriter named Johnny Marks wrote the now famous “Silver & Gold” Christmas tune specifically for the “Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer” TV special. Originally, Larry D. Mann as Yukon Cornelius was to sing the song, but the duty fell on Burl Ives after he signed onto the project. Apparently, the same could be said of “Holly Jolly Christmas,” which really took off after Ives sang a somewhat slower version...